WEBVTT ERIKA TARANTAL TELLS US ABOUTTHE CHALLENGES THEY FACE.>> ANYBODY THAT WAS REALLY IN MYLIFE, I TOOK ADVANTAGE OF ITREPORTER: KERIANN CACCAVARIS SOBER NOW ---AND REALIZES THE DAMAGE SHE DIDWHILE ADDICTED TO OPIOIDS FORTEN YEARS.>> IT'S A VERY SELF-CENTEREDDISEASIT'S ALL ABOUT ME.I NEED, I NEED, I NEEDREPORTER: HER ADDICTION TOPERCOSET AND THEN HEROIN WAS SODEEP AND DESPERATE.IT TWISTED HER GRANDMOTHER'SILLNESS INTO AN OPPORTUNITY.>> I CAN REMEMBER HOSPICE CAMEINTO HER HOME AND BROUGHMORPHINE.AND I CAN REMEMBER I WAS LIKEFACED WITH, I WANT TO TAKE THATMORPHINE.>> SHE NOW TRAVELS WITHMIDDLESEX DISTRICT ATTORNEYMARIAN RYAN TO EDUCATE SENIORCITIZENS ABOUT PROTECTINGTHEMSELVES.>> THEY HAVE BOTH THE ASSETS ANDTHE MEDICATION, WHICH IS OFTENWHAT PEOPLE ARE LOOKING FOR.RYAN SAYS SENIORS ARE OFTENEXPLOITED FINANCIALLY ANDPHYSICALLYIN MASSACHUSETTS, THE NUMBER OFELDER ABUSE REPORTS ROSE37 PERCENT FROM 2011 TO 2015ADVOCATES SAYS THE OPIOID CRISISIS ONE REASON WHY.>> THE MOST COMMON SCENARIO ISTHAT THE PARENTS HAVE TOLD THECHILD YOU HAVE TO LEAVE, YOUCAN'T LIVE HERE ANYMORE.AND NOW GRANDSON/GRANDDAUGHTERSHOWS UP AT THE DOOR WITH NOPLACE TO GO, A GRANDPARENT ISGOING TO BE HARD-PRESSED NOT TOGIVE THEM A SPOT TO GO.AND THEN SUDDENLY, THEY ARECAUGHT UP IN THE CYCLE OFADDICTION.SOME OF THE EARLY SIGNS FOELDERSMISSING SMALL AMOUNTS OF MONEY.FINDING FEWER PILLS INPRESCRIPTION BOTTLES.EVEN LOSING SPOONS.>> YOU THINK THE DISHWASHER ATEIT OR SOMETHING HAPPENED,WHATEVER.OR YOU ARE NOTICING THE SPOOARE BENT.AND YOU KNOW, A SPOON IS A GOODDEVICE FOR COOKING HEROIN ORSOME OTHER DRUGS.REPORTER: MORE AND MOREGRANDPARENTS ARE ALSO TAKING THEPRIMARY ROLE OF RAISING THEIRGRANDCHILDREN.IN OUR STATE, 80 PERCENT OF THECASES WHERE GRANDPARENTS TAKECUSTODY ARE A DIRECT RESULT OFTHE OPIOID CRISIS.>> AND WE ARE TALKING OF WIDERANGE OF KIDS, YOU KNOW, FROMINFANTS THAT SOMETIMES ARE BORNSUBSTANCE EXPOSED TO KIDS THATARE PRE-TEENS AND TEENAGERS WHOMAY HAVE SPENT A LOT OF YEARS INA VERY CHAOTIC SITUATION, MAYHAVE BEEN EXPERIMENTINTHEMSELVES, AND NOW THEY ARELIVING WITH GRANDMA AND GRANDPREPORTER: CACCAVARMOVED IN WITH HER GRANDMOTHERAND REGULARLY STOLE MONEY FROMHER WALLET.TODAY, SHE'S FORGIVEN THE PERSONSHE USED TO BE.>> CAUSE IN THAT MOMENT, I FEELIKE I AM DYING, SO IT'S THEONLY THING I CAN CONCENTRATE ON.I MAY BE PHYSICALLY PRESENT BUMY MIND IS NOT.SO IN THAT MOMENT, I WAS SICK.ED: ONE OF THE THINGS THEY'RTEACHING AT THESE FORUMSGRANDPARENTS SHOULD EVEN WATCHTHEIR PET'S MEDICATIONMARIA: UNBELIEVABLE TO THINKLIKE THAT.YOU HAVE TO.THERE HAVE BEEN CASES WHERE

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Caccavaro's addiction to Percoset and then heroin was so deep and desperate, it twisted her grandmother's illness into an opportunity.

"I can remember hospice came into her home and brought morphine," she recalled. "And I can remember I was faced with, 'I want to take that morphine.'"

Caccavaro now travels with Middlesex District Attorney Marian Ryan to help educate senior citizens about protecting themselves.

"They have both the assets and the medication, which is often what people are looking for," Ryan said.

She said seniors are often exploited financially and physically. In Massachusetts, the number of elder abuse reports rose 37 percent from 2011 to 2015. Advocates believe the opioid crisis is a key reason why.

"The most common scenario is that the parents have told the child, 'You have to leave, you can't live here anymore,'" Ryan said. "And now the grandson, granddaughter shows up at the door with no place to go. A grandparent is going to be hard-pressed not to give them a spot to go. And then suddenly, they are caught up in the cycle of addiction."

Ryan said some of the early warning signs for elders are discovering that small amounts of money are missing, finding fewer pills in prescription bottles, and even losing spoons.

"You think the dishwasher ate it or something happened, whatever," she said. "Or you are noticing the spoons are bent and, you know, a spoon is a good device for cooking heroin or some other drugs."

More grandparents also are taking the primary role of raising their grandchildren. In Massachusetts, 80 percent of all cases where grandparents take custody are a direct result of the opioid crisis.

"We are talking about a wide range of kids," Ryan said. "From infants that are sometimes are born substance-exposed to kids that are preteens and teenagers who may have spent a lot of years in a very chaotic situation, may have been experimenting themselves, and now they are living with grandma and grandpa."

When Caccavaro moved in with her grandmother, she regularly stole money from her wallet. Today, she has forgiven the person she used to be.

"'Cause in that moment, I feel like I am dying," she explained. "So it's the only thing I can concentrate on. I may be physically present, but my mind is not. So in that moment, I was sick."